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African-American Virginians

African-Americans have contributed much to Virginia heritage and culture.

The following are a few African-Americans with ties to Virginia.

James Armistead Lafayette

Booker T. Washington

Maggie Walker

Dr. E.B. Henderson

L. Douglas Wilder

Tim Reid

Blair Underwood

James Armistead Lafayette - (1748*-1830) New Kent; Born into slavery. Joined the American Continental Army to fight for the American Revolution under Marquis de Lafayette. Became a spy. His intel enabled Washington's army to prevent 10,000 British soldiers from invading Yorktown, which led to the British surrender on October 19, 1781. He returned to slave life until granted emancipation by petition in 1787. biography.com/people/james-armistead-537566* Some sources indicate James Armistead Lafayette was born in 1760. One such is blackpast.org/?q=aah/lafayette-james-armistead-1760-1832.

Gabriel Prosser - (1776-1800) Richmond; Born into slavery on the Brookfield Plantation in Henrico County. Educated, literate blacksmith who planned the unfulfilled "Gabriel's Rebellion" in 1800 - a plan to kill every white with the exception of French, Methodist, Quaker and poor. Gabriel was captured and hanged at Richmond's 15th & Broad gallows on October 10, 1800 at the age of 24. aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/freedom-fighter-gabriel-prosser-had-vision

Dred Scott - (1795-1858) Southampton County; Born into slavery on the Peter Blow farm. Scott is best known for fighting legally for his freedom and the freedom of his family. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Scott in Dred Scott v. Sandford, 1857. Seeing the Scotts as too controversial to keep, then owner, Mrs. Emerson, returned the Scotts to the Blow family who granted their freedom in May 1857. biography.com/people/dred-scott-9477240

Nat Turner - (1800-1831) Southampton County; Born into slavery on the Turner Plantation where he was taught reading, writing, and religion. Preacher who claimed God called him to lead the slaves from bondage. Led a slave insurrection known as Nat Turner's Rebellion, which resulted in the deaths of more than 50 white people and harsher laws against slaves. biography.com/people/nat-turner-9512211; lva.virginia.gov/exhibits/DeathLiberty/natturner

Joseph Jenkins Roberts - (1809-1876) Norfolk; Born free at a time when many were born into slavery. Boarded a ship to Liberia with his mother, six siblings, and wife in 1829. Became a sheriff in 1833; first black governor of the colony of Liberia (1840-1847); elected the first president of the new Republic of Liberia (1848). Served as president twice (1848-1856, 1872-1876). Helped found Liberia College (1851); served as a professor and president.virginiamemory.com/online_classroom/shaping_the_constitution/people/joseph_jenkins_roberts

Mary Elizabeth Bowser - (1839-unknown) Richmond; Union spy working as a servant for Varina Davis, wife of the President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis. Inducted into the U.S. Army Military Intelligence Corps Hall of Fame (1995). lkwdpl.org/wihohio/bows-mar.htm

Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. - (1865-1953) Franklin County; Yale University graduate, prominent minister for Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York between 1908 and 1936. By the time his son took over the pastorate in 1937, church membership totaled 7,000, making it one of the largest Protestant churches in the world. abyssinian.org/about-us/history/

Dr. Edwin B. Henderson - (1883-1977) Washington, DC, settled in Falls Church for more than 50 years; "Grandfather of Black Basketball;" Introduced basketball to African-Americans on a wide-scale, organized basis in 1904; Author of The Negro in Sports (1939); Principle organizer of the first rural branch of the NAACP.tinnerhill.org/about/history

Oliver White Hill - (1907-2007) Richmond; Lead attorney with Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, which was consolidated with Brown v. Board of Education at the Supreme Court; First African American Richmond City Council member (1949). Highly decorated with the top-prize being the Presidential Medal of Freedom bestowed by President William J. Clinton (1999). brownat50.org/brownbios/BioOliverHill.html

Barbara Johns - (1935-1991) New York City, but grew up in Farmville, Prince Edward County. Sixteen year old junior at Robert Russa Moton High School who organized a student strike for a new school building (1951). The NAACP advised the students to sue for integration. The Farmville case was one of the five eventually rolled into the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case that declared segregation unconstitutional (1954). pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_people_johns.html

Joseph B. Jefferson - Richmond/Petersburg; songwriter. "One of a Kind (Love Affair)" performed by The Spinners and released in 1972, topping the R&B Singles Chart and reaching number eleven on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in 1973. Other songs include "Games People Play," and "Sadie," sampled in "Dear Mama" by Tupac Shakur. allmusic.com/artist/joseph-b-jefferson-p90410/biography